Ozarks women net ASC tourneyCLARKSVILLE — The University of the Ozarks women’s basketball team qualified for the American Southwest Conference Championship Tournament and will face No. 3 seed University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Friday at noon in Tyler, Texas. Ozarks (10-15, 9-13 ASC) secured the No. 6 seed in the tournament after winning a come-from-behind victory against Mississippi College on Feb. 20. The 2014 tournament will be played Friday through Sunday at the Herring...

Lady Apaches win 4A-4 District titlePOTTSVILLE — The Pottsville Lady Apaches claimed the 4A-4 Conference title with a 31-30 win over the Mena Lady Bearcats on Saturday in the 4A-4 District tournament finals. “It wasn’t pretty,” Pottsville head coach Chance Johnson said. “But we really played well together. There was just something about this game where it felt like they were going to be able to do it all along.” Pottsville’s (18-5) Jenna Goodwin opened the scoring for the Lady A...

Golden Suns survive Savage StormArkansas Tech freshman Anissa Pounds was the answer to Southeastern Oklahoma State junior Emily Williams. After Williams gave the Savage Storm a 72-66 lead with three and a half minutes remaining in the game, Pounds hit 11-of-12 free-throws in the final 3:12 to help the Golden Suns regain the advantage and defeat SEOS 79-76 on Monday night inside Tucker Coliseum. Williams netted a game-high 30 points for SEOS (13-11, 10-8 Great American Confer...

Hocker stays through the uprightsEditor’s Note: This is part of an ongoing series about former Russellville Cyclones football players who have gone on to play bowl games in college. Russellville Cyclones assistant football coach Charlie Goodman knew Zach Hocker was a special kicker during Hocker’s sophomore year in high school. He suspected it a lot longer than that. “As a ninth-grader, we thought he was promising,” Goodman said. “But as a sophomore we knew he was going to be...

East Gales unbeaten in football, basketballThe Russellville Middle School Eastside Gales ended the East-West era with an undefeated season in both football and basketball. Beginning next year, the East will consolidate with the West into one team. “I think it’s exciting to end the era that way,” Gales head football coach Matt Long said. “That’s the last time we’ll every have an East and a West and it was even more special for me because my son, Maddox, is a seventh-grader.” Long said t...

Golden Suns beat SAUSix weeks ago, the Arkansas Tech Golden Suns lost four consecutive games and shot just 33 percent from the field in three of them. You knew that wouldn’t last forever. Eleven games later, the Suns are in second place in the Great American Conference standings with three games left in the regular season. ATU (15-8, 11-6 GAC) used an 11-2 run over the final 91 seconds of Saturday afternoon’s league game to beat the Southern Arkansas Lady Mulerid...

Time runs out for Apaches in semifinalsPOTTSVILLE — Apaches senior point guard Michael Perry made a steal and a layup in the fourth quarter to give Pottsville a 45-44 lead over the Subiaco Trojans in the semifinals of the 4A-4 District tournament. It was the Apaches first lead of the game on Thursday inside George Jones Gymnasium. The two teams traded blows as time expired, but with 17 seconds left on the clock the Trojans took possession trailing 50-48 and went to work. Subiaco dr...

Wonder Boys tame SAU Muleriders 74-70A little more than a month ago, the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys were tossed away from the offensive and defensive glass and lost 59-42 in Magnolia. Not this time around. ATU (17-8, 12-5 Great American Conference) took control midway through the first half Saturday night and held on down the stretch for a 74-70 men’s basketball victory over the Southern Arkansas Muleriders at Tucker Coliseum. Bobby Hatchett scored 15 points, made six assists and ...

Cyclones topple 6A state champion WarriorsThe Russellville Cyclones almost lost control of a 12-point lead during their 53-52 victory over the Class 6A defending state champion Little Rock Hall Warriors. Almost. Russellville (13-10, 7-5 7A/6A-Central Conference) entered the fourth quarter with 41-29 lead, but allowed the Warriors to pull within five with just under five minutes left to play Friday night. In fact, the Cyclones saw their 9-point lead cut to five in under five seconds. A...

Wonder Boys top Muleriders 74-70 Arkansas Tech took control midway through the first half and held on down the stretch for a 74-70 Great American Conference men’s basketball victory over the Southern Arkansas Muleriders at Tucker Coliseum in Russellville on Saturday afternoon. The Wonder Boys (17-8 overall, 12-5 GAC) used a 13-0 run to take a 29-13 lead with 7:14 left in the first half. Tech led 38-25 at halftime and by as many as 21 points midway through the second half. SAU...

Lady Apaches reach 4A-4 finalsPOTTSVILLE — The Pottsville Lady Apaches advanced to 4A-4 District tournament finals with a win over the Waldron Lady Bulldogs on Thursday inside George Jones Gymnasium. The Lady Apaches led from the opening tip and did not relent until the final buzzer. The Lady Apaches saw their run evaporate early in the first quarter, but finished strong for a 16-7 led. Erica Lackey, Jenna Goodwin and Courtney Dotson opened the game with a Pottville 6-0 ru...

RHS swim competes in SpringdaleSPRINGDALE — The Russellville Cyclones recently competed in the Springdale Har-ber Invite, which featured nearly 200 swimmers from schools across the state. Fourteen women’s teams and 11 men’s teams sent swimmers to compete. The Cyclones finished in seventh place with a score of 100 points. The meet was won by Bentonville (385.5), followed by Fort Smith Southside (213.5), Mountain Home (202), Heritage (185), Fayetteville (164), Har-Ber (122), ...

Hogs grind out SEC victoryFAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas coach Mike Anderson believed his team was in for a rugged night in a must-win game against South Carolina. So he and the Razorbacks were breathing a sigh of relief after surviving it. “We certainly are glad to have the win,” Anderson said. “It wasn’t a thing of beauty.” Arkansas grinded its way to a 71-64 win against the Gamecocks in front of an announced crowd of 9,548 in Bud Walton Arena. The Razorbacks had to fight t...

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Arkansas News BureauThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Second-half surge dooms Wonder Boys, 70-49MONTICELLO — Marshawn Arnold scored 10 points, while Kendell Pinkney grabbed five rebounds with four assists, but the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys (16-8, 11-5 Great American Conference) were unable to overcome a red-hot second half by the University of Arkansas at Monticello Boll Weevils (16-9, 9-8 GAC), dropping a 70-49 decision to the Weevils on Thursday at Steelman Fieldhouse. The Boll Weevils started the game on a hot streak, opening up a 10-...

Hogs’ Final Four ceremony ‘electric’FAYETTEVILLE — Mike Anderson wasn’t sure if his players understood the magnitude of what took place in Bud Walton Arena on Saturday. But the significance of the gathering wasn’t lost on Arkansas’ coach after the Razorbacks’ 81-70 win against LSU. “It was electric in this arena,” Anderson said. “And it was an obvious reason why. “We had a lot of champions here. Final Four teams, a Hall of Fame coach in Eddie Sutton, a Hall of Fame coach in Nola...

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Arkansas News BureauThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Sand Lizards pull away from PiratesPOTTSVILLE — The Dardanelle Sand Lizards outscored the Dover Pirates 29-19 in the second half en route to a 57-47 win in the first round of the 4A-4 District Tournament inside George Jones Gymnasium on Tuesday. Dardanelle led 17-14 after the first period, but the Pirates came back and tied the game at halftime, 28-28. The Sand Lizards led 44-40 after the third period. “It’s postseason time and anything can happen,” Dardanelle head boys coach R...

Stretch run for ATU tips tonightThe stretch run of the Great American Conference men’s and women’s basketball races begins Thursday night. Arkansas Tech University will visit the University of Arkansas at Monticello for a doubleheader at Steelman Fieldhouse in Monticello tonight. The twinbill will mark the beginning of five GAC doubleheaders over a span of 10 days to conclude the regular season for the Golden Suns and the Wonder Boys. Tech will finish the regular season with...

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ATU Sports InformationThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Ozarks' tennis eyes postseason chanceCLARKSVILLE — The rising University of the Ozarks men’s tennis team has already experienced plenty of success, but now the 2014 team has to prove it is ready to take the program even higher. For Wiseman, Ozarks is worthy of its No. 16 preseason regional ranking from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, but the question remains how his team will handle big moments. If his team can do that, the 2014 season could be special. “There will be two...

Qualls paces Arkansas past South Carolina 71-64 FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Michael Qualls struggled mightily to open Southeastern Conference play for Arkansas. The sophomore appears to have found his game lately, just in time for what the Razorbacks hope is a push toward an NCAA tournament berth. Qualls continued his late-season resurgence on Wednesday night, scoring 20 points as Arkansas (17-9, 6-7 SEC) held off a second-half rally by South Carolina for a 71-64 win. The Razorbacks led by as many ...

Hector wins 2A-4, unbeaten at homeHECTOR — When Hector Wildcats second-year head basketball coach Cody Vaught asked his seniors what they would like to accomplish this year, their answer was unanimous: Win 20 games, go undefeated at home, win the 2A-4 Conference and make the Class 2A state playoffs. So far, so good. The Wildcats, who are 20-3 on the season and 9-1 in conference, have accomplished all goals except those still to be decided — the state playoffs. Vaught said ther...